To Love A Sport
by Camilla.33
Summary: Ayane is an old friend of Kagami's and the first year manager of Kaijo's basketball team with a affinity for pinpointing and treating injuries. These are a few snapshots of the season through her eyes. NO PAIRINGS! I have a story in mind for her but I thought I would put these up as a test run and get feedback. It's been a while since I wrote, be gentle!
1. Chapter 1

Hey all! It's been a while since I've written anything so some things may need some work... '-_-

On another note, like I mentioned, I have a full story in mind for this character following the KnB storyline but I thought I would run the character through some "test one-shots" and get a little feedback first! constructive criticism is GREATLY appreciated :D

As always, I don't own the characters (other than my OC)!

* * *

 ** _The Fun of the Sport_**

The door behind her slid open noisily, and Ayane glanced up from her phone in time to see Kasamatsu and Kise step out from the restaurant. She'd left them with the tab in favour of standing outside when the storm – which had originally driven them into the place for shelter – subsided, and it became obvious that both Kagami and Midorima were on their last leg of patience.

"You sure you just want to leave like that?"

She smiled at Kasamatsu's concern. It was a new thing to her and though not unwelcome, was unnecessary in many instances. She nodded gently, and glanced down at her phone screen. Her text shone up at her from her screen.

'TO: TAIGA

SEE YOU AT THE INTERHIGH. '

She hit send and flicked the phone shut with a snap of her wrist, stowing it in the side pocket of her bag. She hiked the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder and gestured with her head in the direction of their homes.

The three set off in an amicable silence, drifting at a slow but steady pace. Vaguely she noticed how Kise seemed to radiate annoyance, a mad twitchiness having settled on him. Ayane, wisely, chose to ignore his childish pouting until Kasamatsu, obviously fed up with his agitation, whacked him across the back of the head with a sharp 'Quit it!' At which point she resumed her habitual role of peacekeeper and positioned herself between the two basketball players.

"You're mad at Taiga, right?" she said gently.

She glanced up at him from the corner of her eye in time to see his eyes snap away. It was enough of an admission for both of them.

"He's right though."

Kise immediately whirled back to her, his face a mixture of disbelief and anger, which she was quick to silence. Even Kasamatsu was staring at her looking somewhere between interested and surprised.

"You think too much. Basketball's supposed to be fun. If it isn't you're not playing it right… or for the right reasons."

Kasamatsu's confusion morphed quickly into a small smile that she returned gladly. As a player who didn't benefit from the gifts the Generation of Miracles possessed, he could understand. Kise however seemed put off by her words and she could see the protests rising to his lips. Though she wasn't surprised by his inability to grasp the concept, she was still annoyed and cut him off again before he could say anything.

"You should always enjoy playing. Winning or losing. If not you're incomplete."

This only seemed to frustrate him more, taking her words as an indirect insult to his skills. She hurriedly subdued the fear and anger before she was forced to chase him down at their next practice to apologize.

"Don't worry, you're getting there."

His frustration only seemed to fade partially, its edge dulled slightly by the confusion she had no doubt left him with. Kasamatsu chuckled under his breath, drawing both his companion's attention. It was a welcome distraction that Kise took immediately and it wasn't long before the two were at their usual antics, arguing over the top of Ayane's head.

While they were preoccupied, Ayane pulled her phone back out of her bag. It had buzzed sometime while she and Kise had been arguing – if 'arguing' was the appropriate word – and the screen lit up when she pulled it from its place. The message flashed across the screen and she smiled as she read it.

' _NEW MESSAGE_

FROM: TAIGA

OF COURSE! '

She grinned widely when she stowed her phone into her bag a second time. Laughing slightly to herself, she hooked her arms through both her companions'. Their arguing stopped immediately and they stared at her confused, but smiled all the same when she offered no explanation for her sudden good spirits.

* * *

So how was it? I'll post another couple of chapters to show a few more relationships!

Also, to anyone who has been waiting for me to write again, thank you so much :) You have no idea what the support means to me!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! So I'm posting 2 or 3 chapters in rapid succession (partially to make up for my looooooong hiatus). This is a closer inspection of Ayane's relationship with her team and a glimpse at her past.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 ** _The Best Way to Lose_**

Ayane sat at the end of their bench wedged between Kaijou's bench players and the coach, who stood beside her, one hand clapped on her shoulder. Twice she had attempted to convince the coach to pull Kise from the game, and twice she had been refused. She could practically see the injury forming, but he was their only defence against Touou's ace. He would play to the end, no matter what anyone said.

When the game finally came to an end, Ayane found herself more relieved than she had ever been in her life. Her peace of mind was short lived however when Kise stayed splayed on the ground, unable to rise. She almost burst into tears when Kasamatsu was forced to lift him from the ground and drag him to the center of the court to bow.

When the team finally filed into the locker room, Ayane was immediately given the responsibility of checking Kise. He was sat on a bench near the back of the room reclining back against the wall of lockers they hadn't used, and though he did his best to hide it, his face was twisted in discomfort.

"Can't even take your shoes off? So lazy…"

Her half-hearted joke sounded flat even to her ears, and she dropped into a crouch in front of him when his eyes flickered to her in confusion.

Kise's whole calves were trembling, the muscles jumping in exhaustion even at rest. When she tested his ankle he winced and hissed, and based on the heat she could feel radiating from him she didn't even dare test his knees. The damage became clearer the longer she worked and halfway through her analysis she had to shut her eyes and take a deep breath.

"Ryo, you idiot…"

His faced morphed from half-hidden discomfort to apprehension and his hands rose quickly from the bench to wave frantically before his face.

"Ayane-cchi! I know you're mad but it was for the team and – "

He stopped short when one of her hands came up to stop him. She sat back, shifting from her crouch into a more comfortable position on her knees. For a while, the two simply sat like that with Ayane staring at her lap and Kise watching her apprehensively. Behind her, Kasamatsu made a movement as if to yell at Kise but stopped midway unsure of what was going on.

"Don't _ever_ do something like this again."

Her eyes remained trained on the floor in front of her knees and she had both hands now clenched in fists in her skirt.

"Ayane-cchi, it's fine… It's my job as the ace to – "

Kise cut off abruptly when Kasamatsu smacked him over the head with one hand, the other resting on the manager's shoulder. Eyes sharp he glared at his teammate as he rubbed at the sore spot the captain had just created.

"You carry our wishes. If you're too injured to play, then what happens?"

Kise stared at him for a moment, somewhat put off but more surprised than anything. Eventually, he glanced away from Kasamatsu's face to Ayane. She was still staring at her lap, though one hand now rested limply in her lap while the other hand shifted back to cradle her bad ankle. It took him only a moment to realize the issue, and he slowly sank off the bench to crouch in front of her as best he could.

"Ayane-cchi? I'm sorry. I was stupid."

Her answer came without hesitation, whipping from her mouth in borderline hostility.

"Damn right."

And then with a sigh she shook her head and guided him back onto the bench, quietly asking Kasamatsu to get her a cold compress and some tape. When he was out of earshot, rummaging through the first-aid kit, she slumped onto the bench beside Kise.

"Don't make my mistake Ryo… You'll regret it believe me."

He smiled at her, a lingering feeling of unease and guilt permeating his mind, and lifted a hand to ruffle her hair. Her reaction was immediate, and he was glad when her gloomy aura cleared as she snapped at him and straightened her hair. And when his eyes lifted to the rest of the team, watching the two of them as subtly as they could, he knew that if nothing else they had one thought in common.

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Please rate and review! :)


	3. Chapter 3

A little look into Ayane's past, her relationship with Himuro and her relationship with other teams.

* * *

 ** _The Gentle and the Gentleman_**

Ayane watched as Yosen retreated to their locker room. Her team was already at the abandoned bench, filling the space they had just left vacant. In moments all traces of the previous game had been overshadowed. The room's whole focus was now on the coming game. Yet somehow, Ayane could not draw her mind from the image of Himuro's disappearing figure. She sighed, rising from the bench and wandering over to the coach.

"Takeuchi-sensei, I'll be right back okay?"

The coach barely glanced away from the boys already warming up on the court as he nodded at her. Ayane thanked him quietly and began retreating when he cut her off.

"Make sure whatever this is, it's settled. We need you focused on this game."

She blinked twice owlishly, slightly caught off guard until she turned and saw her whole team within hearing distance with expressions of agreement on their faces. She chuckled a little to herself, before making a small noise of consent and running off in the direction of the locker rooms.

She caught up with Yosen at the door to their locker room. The coach was nowhere in sight and as she rounded the corner she saw Himuro retreating further down the passage at a fast pace. Murasakibara was sitting in front of the door looking miserable beneath the towel sitting slightly askew on his head. She had only a few seconds to wonder what was going on before one of the team members rounded on her.

"What do you want?"

The man towered over her, glaring down at her in a way that would have been threatening had she not found his appearance somewhat ridiculous. From his jersey she could tell he was the captain, though from the expressions of his teammates he wasn't necessarily respected as such.

"I was just –", she cut herself off when her eyes wandered back to Murasakibara lying prone on the floor.

"What happened to him?"

The captain glowered at her harder than ever and, to her surprise, the rest of the team suddenly shifted from apathetic to borderline defensive. She could almost hear the snappish remarks they were about to throw her way. But much to everyone's surprise, Murasakibara cut in before any of them could attempt to scare her off.

"Aya-chin~! My legs hurt."

She smiled gently at the giant, pushing through his teammates to kneel in front of him. His face was open for once, displaying neither the seriousness he showed during the game, nor the lazy apathy he normally presented to the world. She softened slightly, giving in easily to the almost childlike mannerism he had whenever she had seen him. She moved to examine his legs but stopped short remembering her manners.

"Can I?"

He nodded compliantly and she set about checking his legs. His calf muscles were obviously exhausted, shaking violently whenever he attempted to move them in the slightest. His ankles had suffered slightly, but she was happy to find the damage would right itself easily enough on its own. It was his knees that were the worse off by far. The impact of so much jumping had worn them down, especially with the size of his body and she winced to herself when she touched his knees and felt the heat radiating from the area.

"Ne, you should be more careful 'Tsuchi. This is –"

"What's going on here?"

Ayane whirled around, to find Yosen's coach standing a few feet away. Behind her Himuro stood attempting to get a good look at Murasakibara without meeting Ayane's eye. She rose carefully to her feet and turned to offer Murasakibara help. He struggled to his feet, leaning heavily against the smaller girl as he rose and addressed his coach.

"Masako-chin, my legs hurt so Aya-chin took a look at them."

The coach looked put off by Murasakibara's answer but nodded anyway. She moved past them to unlock the door to the locker room and then ushered everyone inside. Once the door was safely shut behind them, she turned and addressed Ayane.

"Shouldn't you be with your team?"

"They're still warming up. We've got a whole half-hour until the game starts and I really only need to be there for the last ten minutes of the warm-up."

The coach looked reproachful, but said nothing about this apparent lack of planning on the part of her own team. Instead, her questions drifted back to matters that concerned her.

"So what's the verdict on him?"

Judging by the sharp gesture of her chin in Murasakibara's direction, Ayane guessed that questions regarding herself were over and done. She glanced back at Murasakibara, as though to make sure he was still there, before turning back to the coach and explaining what she's found.

"There's no extensive or permanent damage. The Generation of Miracles seem to be prone to injuries in their joints. I'd imagine it's because their level of skill is disproportionate to their age and body development. Either way, he needs rest for sure. No practice for at least a couple of days, I'd say. You should probably keep it light for the first couple practises after that too. And he should ice his knees now for fifteen minutes and then again in an hour. You might also want to think of wrapping his knees once the ice comes off. He'll need the extra support for a little while."

The woman nodded, conceding each point as Ayane presented them. When she was done talking, someone was immediately sent to get ice and Ayane was assaulted with another round of questions.

"Why were you even here to begin with?"

At this Ayane glanced away, not wanting to reveal her personal reasons but not wanting to make the woman angry. She opted instead for a vague response that would satisfy her for the time being.

"I had stuff I needed to deal with..."

The coach looked unhappy but said nothing, and after making sure Murasakibara was well tended to Ayane took her leave and wandered back out into the hall. She was almost back to the turnoff that would lead her back to the courts when Yosen's locker room door opened and Himuro came jogging after her. She stopped and allowed him to catch up.

"Thank you for helping Atsushi."

"No problem."

Her reply came stiffly and she was quick to swivel away and make for the end of the corridor again. She was stopped a few moments later by his hand on her wrist.

"Aya… can we talk, please?"

"What is there to say?" she snapped back.

"It's what you came to do in the first place isn't it?"

She glared at the floor, confined by a truth she could not deny. He knew her too well for that. She opted instead to pry her hand free and turn to face him with her arms crossed.

"Fine…" and then, "but make it quick, I have a game…"

He relaxed a little, stepping back to allow her some space but staying close enough to grab her again if need be. He opened his mouth, and snapped it shut again, looking away shame-faced for a moment before glancing back. Her heart constricted painfully at the sight. The visible half of his face was twisted, and he looked frustrated. Despite her anger she wanted to help him somehow, she could see the guilt from their fight and under that a self-hatred and frustration born in part by the results of his match and a much deeper conflict.

"I'm sorry. I just –", he cut himself off. "I know it doesn't change anything. But I'm sorry. I was being stupid."

Ayane sighed. She was still mad, furious even, but watching his face crumble beneath the guilt and self-loathing she gave in. She glanced at her feet, then back to his face and met his eyes gently, a small smile sweeping over her face.

"I guess… I was kind of harsh too. I just-! … Whatever, it's passed."

Some of the tension eased from his shoulders and he nodded, smiling hesitantly back. She was going to turn and walk away, but something lingering in his eye stopped her. With another long, suffering sigh she moved to stand directly in front of him and met his eye when he glanced back at her.

"That was an awesome game. You know that right?"

He nodded, but his eyes were quick to leave hers and wander across the wall beside them. She reached out and gently brushed the hair away from his other eye, ducking a little to catch his gaze when attempted to look away.

"I mean it Tatsuya. You're an amazing player. Don't measure yourself against the Generation of Miracles. You. Are. Amazing."

He shut his eyes and breathed a long, heavy breath. His bangs slipped back into place over his eye as he shifted forward to rest his forehead against hers, her arms fell back so one rested against his shoulder while the other alighted on his forearm. They stood in silence for a moment before his eyes flickered open and he shifted back slightly to look her in the eye.

"You are ridiculously good at that."

Her brows furrowed slightly.

"Good at what?"

He chuckled to himself a little and shook his head as he backed away slightly to give her some space. His hand came up and ran through her short hair toying with the dark strands.

"Never mind."

Ayane puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, but said nothing. Instead she shook her head, both her hands coming up to hold Himuro's wrist lightly. He smiled at her gently, pulling her into a hug and resting his head in the crook of her neck. They stood like that for a second before he sighed and moved away slowly.

"You should get going. You have a game after all."

She nodded and turned somewhat unwillingly, running off down the corridor and back to the courts. Her boys were still warming up, though they were nearing the end of their routine and would be coming in to the bench soon. She jogged over to the bench and sat down beside the coach. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"You all sorted?"

Ayane opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the loud vibration of her phone. Frowning, she rummaged through her bag and pulled it out to find the screen lit with a message.

' _NEW MESSAGE_

FROM: TATSUYA

GOOD LUCK! 3'

Ayane smiled at the text message before stowing it back in her bag. By this point Takeuchi had already called the boys in and they were jogging in at various speeds to gather around the two of them. She stood as the last of the boys approached and grinned.

"Ready to play?"

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! :D


	4. Chapter 4

So this might be my last post in this fanfic for a little while (or at all depending on if I go through with the full length story). I hope you enjoyed what I've posted so far! Hopefully you'll get to see more of Ayane :D

Anyway, I should have mentioned this before but the timeline is REEEAAAALLY out of order. This takes place in the restaurant after Seirin's practice match against Kaijo.

* * *

 ** _The Meaning of Family_**

"Ne, Kagami-kun... Who was that girl anyway?"

Seirin's ace paused in his mad consumption of food, a piece of steak coming to a halt halfway to his mouth. He stared blankly at his teammates and coach, who at this point had all stopped what they were doing to hear his answer. Kagami seemed to deliberate before swallowing the portion of food already stuffed into his mouth.

"She's… ah… well… I guess you could say she's my sister."

Silence.

"WHA–?!"

Kagami, who had taken the relative silence of his teammates as his cue to resume eating, stopped for a second time. This time, without even putting in the effort to swallow, he opened his mouth to answer around his mouthful. He was halfway through struggling to force his words past his food when a hand clapped over his face and he was cut off.

"Taiga, you really shouldn't talk with your mouth full. It's unpleasant for the rest of us."

Kagami choked, struggling now to swallow even as her name fought to slip past his lips. Ayane just laughed, one hand rubbing his back to soothe his violent coughing. When he finally cleared his airway, he sat staring up at her as though she were an apparition.

"W-what are you doing here?!"

She smiled, pulling out a seat from an empty table nearby and dropping into it in a motion as fluid as water.

"Actually, I was looking for Kise-kun. The idiot ran off right after the game and I wanted to have a word with him. I saw you guys through the window and thought I'd stop in and congratulate you."

After her explanation, she reached out with delicate fingers, plucking a small piece of steak from Kagami's plate. She chewed thoughtfully then hummed approvingly.

"This stuff's really good. Almost better than your cooking Taiga-"

"Oi!"

She laughed a little, nudging him gently with her shoulder as she assured him that she was joking. The tall boy sat sulking for a while, before Ayane eventually convinced him to forgive her and resume his dinner. Once his mouth was full, and the racket he created had fully resumed the rest of him team seemed to shake of their stupor. Riko, now more curious than before, resumed the previous investigation.

"So, Kagami-kun says your siblings?"

Ayane blinked twice, seeming confused, before her mind caught up with the question. With a small shake of her head and a half-annoyed, half-gentle glance at Kagami she answered.

"We're not really blood related. We were friends back in America though, and we spent so much time together that he became like family."

There was another surprised pause. Silence settled over the table, broken only by the sounds of Kagami shovelling food into his face. Riko was about to ask another question when Kagami burped loudly and Ayane slapped him on the arm with a quiet reprimand about manners and a small laugh. She stood moments later and Kagami's eyes followed her even as he reached for another piece of steak.

"You leaving?"

"Yeah… I still need to track down Kise-kun. Do me a favour and send him my way if you see him."

Kagami nodded looking vaguely unhappy. She smiled at him gently, stooping to hug him lightly around the shoulders. Then she straightened, waved to the rest of the table and made her way back outside. Kagami's eyes trailed after her until she was out of sight, before he turned back to his food with a sigh. Not ten seconds later his found buzzed and with a frown he pulled it from his sports bag.

' _NEW MESSAGE_

FROM: AYANE

SEE YOU SOON, SO DON'T POUT :-P IT'S A BAD LOOK FOR YOU.'

Annoyed, Kagami shoved the phone back into his sports bag before resuming his dinner with more aggression than before.

* * *

So, any good? Feedback is always appreciated :D


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